ESPO AND BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES SECTION SYMPOSIUM: BRIDGES TO ELDER JUSTICE: BUILDING COLLABORATIONS AND COALITIONS TO CATALYZE ELDER MISTREATMENT RESEARCH

Abstract Elder mistreatment is a widespread public health problem, affecting 1 in 6 older persons every year. Despite its high frequency and severity, relatively little attention has been paid to ensuring that the findings of elder mistreatment research can be implemented in routine care and clinical practice. Forging meaningful partnerships with health care systems may hold promise to facilitate this translational process, and ultimately improve health outcomes for older persons. In this symposium, we will identify proven approaches and mechanisms to successfully build, maintain, and sustain elder mistreatment research-to-practice partnerships with various health care system stakeholders. Dr. Karl Pillemer will describe best approaches in forging researcher-practitioner collaboration with long-term care providers to implement and disseminate evidence-based resident-to-resident aggression intervention program. Dr. Lena Makaroun will examine lessons learned from four high-impact Veterans Health Administration-led collaborations to accelerate applied elder mistreatment research. Dr. Kristen Lees Haggerty will discuss strategies and successes in developing a novel elder mistreatment screening and response tool for emergency departments nationwide in partnership with the National Collaboratory to Address Elder Mistreatment. Finally, Dr. Zach Gassoumis will describe his experiences with conducting intervention and observational research as well as provide advice to early career scholars looking to build partnerships with health care systems. Taken together, these presentations will shed light on the practice, policy, and research implications in strengthening health care system partnerships to closing the discovery-delivery gap.


WHEN DISASTER STRIKES: ADDRESSING THE UNIQUE NEEDS OLDER ADULTS FACE IN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS
Older adults are more at risk for harm in emergency situations (e.g., pandemics, natural disasters, extreme weather events) and often require more assistance in response and recovery efforts.The COVID-19 pandemic and the increase in climate related emergencies has emphasized the critical need to prepare and respond more effectively to the unique needs of older adults in emergency situations.There is much that community-based seniors serving (CBSS) organizations, emergency management professionals, and local governments can do to develop and implement policies, programs, and practices to effectively support the needs of older adults in emergency preparedness and response.In British Columbia, the COVID-19 pandemic and recent extreme weather events (i.e., forest fires, flooding, and heat waves) have prompted the development of an intentional network strategy for emergency preparedness and response.This innovative approach, which is coordinated by United Way British Columbia, has allowed for increased communication, coordination, collaboration, peer learning, and knowledge translation among CBSS agencies, as well as partner organizations, allied professionals, and other stakeholders.This presentation describes our comprehensive approach to supporting communities to understand and address the specific needs of older adults in emergency planning and management, including: 1) community grants and capacity building; 2) tools and resource development; 3) policies and rights-based strategies; and 4) fostering collaboration between CBSS agencies, emergency management professionals, and all levels of government.Examples are also provided illustrating how these approaches have been utilized in British Columbia to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and severe weather events.

POLICY SERIES: A SECURE RETIREMENT FOR OLDER WOMEN
Chair: Brian Lindberg Co-Chair: Cindy Hounsell This session will address policy development related to women and their financial well-being in later life.Panelists will discuss the recently passed SECURE 2.0, the latest programs providing financial literacy to older adults, healthcare workforce related issues, and the role of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is protecting older adults from fraud and elder exploitation.

ESPO AND BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES SECTION SYMPOSIUM: BRIDGES TO ELDER JUSTICE: BUILDING COLLABORATIONS AND COALITIONS TO CATALYZE ELDER MISTREATMENT RESEARCH
Chair: E-Shien Chang Co-Chair: Sara Hackett Elder mistreatment is a widespread public health problem, affecting 1 in 6 older persons every year.Despite its high frequency and severity, relatively little attention has been paid to ensuring that the findings of elder mistreatment research can be implemented in routine care and clinical practice.Forging meaningful partnerships with health care systems may hold promise to facilitate this translational process, and ultimately improve health outcomes for older persons.In this symposium, we will identify proven approaches and mechanisms to successfully build, maintain, and sustain elder mistreatment research-to-practice partnerships with various health care system stakeholders.Dr. Karl Pillemer will describe best approaches in forging researcher-practitioner collaboration with long-term care providers to implement and disseminate evidence-based resident-to-resident aggression intervention program.Dr. Lena Makaroun will examine lessons learned from four high-impact Veterans Health Administration-led collaborations to accelerate applied elder mistreatment research.Dr. Kristen Lees Haggerty will discuss strategies and successes in developing a novel elder mistreatment screening and response tool for emergency departments nationwide in partnership with the National Collaboratory to Address Elder Mistreatment.Finally, Dr. Zach Gassoumis will describe his experiences with conducting intervention and observational research as well as provide advice to early career scholars looking to build partnerships with health care systems.Taken together, these presentations will shed light on the practice, policy, and research implications in strengthening health care system partnerships to closing the discovery-delivery gap.To study elder mistreatment in institutional settings, collaboration is needed with nursing home and assisted living providers.Studies show that common problems emerge in researcher-practitioner collaboration, including differences in the key areas of orientation, training, nature of evidence, time horizons, and uses of research.Barriers specific to collaboration with.LTC providers also present challenges, including reputational risk from participating in EM studies and demands on administrative and staff time that limit availability for research.We report on a successful model for collaboration with LTC providers, based on the implementation and evaluation of the "Improving Resident Relationships in Long-Term Care" program.This evidence-based program was implemented to prevent and treat resident-to-resident aggression in nursing homes (16 facilities) and assisted living (14 facilities), involving over 2000 residents.Findings revealed a set of replicable elements to obtain LTC provider collaboration on sensitive issues like resident-to-resident aggression: (1) Preparatory efforts to gain commitment of administrative personnel; (2) agreements regarding confidentiality and anonymity; (3) identification of one or more "facility champions," who demonstrate enthusiasm and willingness to advocate for the program; (4) providing payment to participating facilities to cover expenses such as overtime needed to release staff to attend trainings; (5) gaining the support of trusted provider organizations; (6) demonstrating that the program helps meet regulatory requirements; and (7) a procedure to allow for pragmatic modifications to the intervention that allow greater fit with the provider's workflow.Implications for elder mistreatment intervention research are discussed.

PROMOTING ELDER JUSTICE IN THE VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION VIA INTER-AND EXTRADEPARTMENTAL COLLABORATIONS
Lena Makaroun 1 , Kathrine Smith 2 , Lisa Boris 3 , and Jaime Halaszynski 4 , 1. University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine,Division of Geriatric Medicine,Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania,United States,2. VA Fargo Health Care System,Fargo,North Dakota,United States,3. VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System,Ravenna,Ohio,United States,4. VA Butler Health Care System,Butler,Pennsylvania,United States The Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the largest integrated health system in the country, provides comprehensive, high-quality care to nearly 19 million Veterans, over half of whom are age ≥60.Older Veterans receiving care in VHA have a high prevalence of most known elder abuse (EA) risk factors, many stemming from their military service.The VHA is a leader in advancing knowledge and care for complex geriatric syndromes, and now leaders in both VHA research and social work are spearheading interdisciplinary collaborations to do the same for EA.In this symposium, we present practical experiences, empirical data and lessons learned from four VHA led collaborations, including: 1) development of the VHA National Social Work Elder Abuse Tiger Team that has worked with VHA researchers to develop and lead a national strategy around EA response; 2) a partnership with the Veterans Benefits Administration to conduct novel research on financial exploitation among Veterans; 3) an education and training collaboration with the National Adult Protective Services Association to demystify the processes and procedures of each organization that has thus far led to 7 presentations to >2,500 attendees; and 4) a relationship with the National Collaboratory to Address Elder Mistreatment to adapt and pilot an EA screening tool for use in VHA emergency departments.Highlighting how the VHA has built bridges both within and outside its organization and the impact this has had on advancing EA research and response will generate ideas for other healthcare systems and those interested in future collaborations with VHA.

HEALTH SYSTEM PARTNERSHIPS IN INTERVENTION AND OBSERVATIONAL STUDIES: REFLECTIONS FROM AN EARLY-CAREER SCHOLAR Zach Gassoumis, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United States
The early knowledge base and interventions in the field of elder mistreatment were built by clinician researchers,